


All I want for Christmas is you

by Unholy



Category: 5 Seconds of Summer (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Normal Life, Christmas, Established Relationship, Fluff, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-12-24
Updated: 2016-12-24
Packaged: 2018-09-11 21:15:39
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,948
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9027340
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Unholy/pseuds/Unholy
Summary: “YOU FORGOT ASHTON’S CHRISTMAS PRESENT?!”Luke flinches at the loud noise in his ear, holding the phone a few inches away. “I didn’t mean to!” he objects. “It just… slipped my mind.”“Yep. That’s it. You’re officially the worst boyfriend in the world,” Michael deadpans. “Might as well go pack, man. Ash is never going to forgive you for this.”
Or, Luke is an idiot but Ashton loves him anyway. Even more than he loves Christmas.





	

**Author's Note:**

  * For [liqhters](https://archiveofourown.org/users/liqhters/gifts).



> A VERY HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO MY LOVE [LOREN](http://archiveofourown.org/users/liqhters) I LOVE YOU A LOT.  
> Also a merry Christmas to everyone reading this, and a very happy new year. I hope 2017 will be good to all of you. :)

Luke is awoken in the morning by a heavy weight plunging on top of him and Mariah Carey’s ‘All I Want for Christmas Is You’ blasting through the speakers of a phone. He groans as the weight presses him impossibly deeper into the mattress, bony knees digging into his stomach.

“Ash,” he whines without opening his eyes, “get off me.”

He receives only a chuckle in return, but the knees do move to place themselves on either side of his body rather than on top of it. Ashton’s hands are placed on his chest and he can feel the other boy’s breath on his face as Ashton moves his mouth next to his ear. Then, suddenly-

“Wake up, it’s Christmas!” Ashton yells at the top of his lungs and Luke actually bucks up as he tries to get away from the noise. Ashton topples off him onto the other side of their double bed, still giggling like a school girl. Luke rubs over the skin of his pained ear, annoyed.

“What the Hell was that for?” he grumbles, pouting at his boyfriend. He can’t stay mad at him for long, though, not with the way he looks. Even though Ashton is already fully dressed, his hair is still sleep-mussed, pointing in every direction from under the fake antlers he has perched atop his head. He’s wearing one of the ugliest yet fluffiest Christmas sweaters Luke has ever seen and his feet are clad in equally festive socks.

“Because Christmas!” Ashton answers happily, and well. Luke doesn’t really have a good answer to that, other than that Ashton is ridiculously obsessed with Christmas and that Luke doesn’t have the heart to tell him off. Not when he looks as giddy and excited as he does right now. Ashton presses a loving kiss to his mouth. “Plus, I made breakfast. You should eat it before it gets cold.”

Luke hides his smile in his pillow. “Okay, Ash. I’ll be right down,” he murmurs. Ashton is satisfied with the answer and he clambers off the bed, darting out into the hall and down the stairs. Luke rolls his eyes fondly as he pushes himself up out of bed. The cold air that hits him when the blanket slides off his body makes him shudder and he quickly puts on sweatpants and a jumper. It’s not Christmas-themed, unlike Ashton’s one, but it’s warm and fluffy and there’s a penguin on the front, so it counts.

He tries not to look at his desk and the huge amount of books and papers piled up on it, and he tries even harder to not think of all the work he still needs to get done for college. The workload has been killing him for the past few weeks. Now that it’s Christmas break, he finally has a little breathing room, but he still has a lot to do in relatively little time and it’s practically all he’s been able to think of. He’s barley even had time to go out on dates with Ashton, and there’s no room for anything else.

The balustrade next to the stairs is completely wrapped up with fake branches mixed with holly and Christmas lights. The latter blink, seemingly without a pattern, and it’s so cheesy and ridiculous that it makes Luke snort internally every time he passes them. What can he say, Ashton is very passionate about Christmas.

The living room is even more festive. There is, of course, the immense Christmas tree that is entirely filled with lights and the classic red and gold ornaments, up to the point you can barely even see the green of the tree anymore. Aside from that, there are various ornaments and decorations in every single corner of the room. From lights to candles to actual mistletoe dangling from the ceiling – not to mention the wreath on the front door. Ashton has really outdone himself this year. The house has been this way since November.

The table is decorated similarly, with a candy cane-printed table cloth and snowman-shaped candles. The breakfast Ashton made looks delicious; American pancakes with maple syrup and a side of freshly-cut fruit.

“It looks great, Ash,” he tells his boyfriend, who’s already seated at the table with his hands wrapped around a reindeer-themed mug of hot chocolate. “Thank you.”

Ashton smirks, popping a strawberry in his mouth. “It’s just a little taste of what I’m going to make for tonight,” he says, wiggling his eyebrows. Luke laughs, head thrown back into his neck, and he sits down at the table. The pancakes are still a little warm and he licks his lips and he places one on his plate, reaching for the plastic bottle of maple syrup.

“I can’t wait to finally unpack our presents!” Ashton exclaims, and. Well. Luke’s heart stops. Not literally, but he can feel it skip a beat and he still completely, arms still stretched across the table on its way to the maple syrup. Ashton doesn’t notice, just skips to the kitchen to ‘make Luke some hot chocolate too’, completely ignorant of Luke’s internal freak-out.

Because, in the whole chaos with college, he _forgot to buy Ashton presents_. Like, he has the small ones, the ones you run into in local stores and buy because they’re funny or cute, but he’s missing the one big bang present, the one he really cannot miss. The one that says ‘I love you’. He just. He forgot.

Luke panics.

“Mike!” he whisper-yells when his friend answers the phone. “I have an emergency!”

The voice that answers him isn’t Michael. “What could possibly be an emergency at eight in the morning?” Calum asks.

“I forgot Ashton’s present!” Luke hisses. “Why do you have Mike’s phone?”

“Because. We live together. And you’re calling at eight. In the morning. And Michael likes his sleep,” Calum answers. Luke winces.

“Sorry, I didn’t mean to wake you guys. It’s just- how could I forget this?! You _have_ to help me!”

There’s some noise on Calum’s side and then his voice saying “Hang on a sec”. Some more sounds, voices talking indistinctly and then Michael’s voice in his ear, screeching, “YOU FORGOT ASHTON’S CHRISTMAS PRESENT?!”

Luke flinches at the loud noise in his ear, holding the phone a few inches away. “I didn’t mean to!” he objects. “It just… slipped my mind.”

“Yep. That’s it. You’re officially the worst boyfriend in the world,” Michael deadpans. “Might as well go pack, man. Ash is never going to forgive you for this.”

Luke rolls his eyes, weakly muttering a “Shut up”. But a fear from Michael’s words does settle over him. What if Ashton really doesn’t forgive him? There is little more in the world that Ashton loves more than Christmas and its traditions and Luke has failed him terribly.

“Help me!” he begs, and he hears some rustling before Calum’s voice speaks up again. “Sorry, bud. We’re spending the day over at Michael’s parents. They’re cooking dinner and everything.”

Luke pouts, glaring at nothing in particular. “What am I supposed to do?”

He can almost hear Calum’s casual shrug. “I don’t know, man. You’ll figure it out. Call someone else if you must. Don’t have a panic attack.”

“Too late,” Luke hisses, running a hand through his hair. “What the fuck, Cal, don’t leave me like this.”

He hears Calum snort. “Bye, Luke,” he says, and then there’s just the steady beep of the dial tone in his ear. He puts the phone away just in time before Ashton wanders back into the living room, placing a steaming mug of hot chocolate in front of him.

“Thanks, babe,” Luke says, shooting Ashton a distracted smile. He takes a sip and burns his tongue. He barely reacts. “Look, I’m sorry, but I gotta go.”

Ashton’s face falls and Luke feels a painful tug at his heart. “I’m really sorry, baby. I’ll be back in time for dinner, I promise.”

“Okay,” Ashton says, “where are you going?”

“Oh, I’m uh, I’m just- gonna go see Loren for a bit. I won’t be long.” It’s not a lie, not exactly. He is going to see Loren, he just doesn’t mention the reason why.

Ashton pouts but doesn’t object. “Promise?”

Luke smiles. “I promise.” He kisses Ashton on the cheek, quick but sweet, and darts out of the door soon after. Wrapping his coat tightly around his body – it’s snowing outside and while the streets look beautiful, it’s really fucking freezing – he makes his way to their car. The drive up to Loren’s apartment doesn’t take long and he kills the engine not twenty minutes later. When they open the door, they look at him like he’s out of his mind. Which, Luke has to admit, may very well be true.

“What are you doing here?” they ask him after staring at him for a good minute, stepping back to let him in. Luke takes a deep breath as he steps into the hallway, backing up against the now closed door.

“You know how Ashton and I always buy each other a shit ton Christmas presents?” he asks. He continues when Loren nods. “Well, they’re mostly these little random things, just small gifts, but there has to always be at least this one present that has a lot of meaning, you know? And I just- I kind of… I forgot. To buy that one. I just forgot. And now Ashton’s going to hate me for not honouring out Christmas traditions and he’s going to break up with me and –”

“Luke,” Loren cuts in sharply, sending him a death glare. “You’re being ridiculous.”

He frowns, offended. “What?”

“You’re such an idiot,” Loren rolls their eyes. “He’s not going to hate you. And you can still buy one today, so… what’s the problem, exactly?”

“I don’t know what to get him,” Luke says desperately. He’s been so preoccupied that he hasn’t thought of what to get Ashton – and now that he has to buy something, he doesn’t know what in the world to get him. Loren slaps the back of his head.

“Come on, you big baby. Give me your keys. I’m driving.”

Luke hands them his keys without question and follows them outside like a lost puppy.

 

-

 

The worst thing about last minute Christmas shopping is that most good things are sold out already. He and Loren raid the few stores that are open for hours, and they find. Well. Nothing. Nothing good, at least. Luke starts to feel more and more desperate the longer it takes.

“You’re such a tool,” Loren keeps telling him. “Ashton isn’t going to break up with you over this. Please quit stressing. You’re decreasing my lifespan with your worrying.”

As dinnertime comes closer and closer, Luke starts to give up. He has to be home soon, he can’t disappoint Ashton like this twice. His mood drops further and further and he feels guilty for dragging Loren along in his panic session. It’s so bad that, in the end, they’re the one buying a present for Ashton. Luke is too busy looking for the perfect gift, which he doesn’t find, anyway, so Loren is once again his saving grace when they do buy something. Even if it’s… a pack of vanilla-scented candles.

Really. That’s his epic, big-bang Christmas present to Ashton. Scented candles. Luke kind of wants to bang his head against the wall.

“It’s better than nothing,” Loren argues, and well. Luke can’t really object to that.

His anxiety increases on the entire way back home. He refrains from taking a couple of detours to postpone – he’s running quite late already and he can’t run from the confrontation any longer.

The click of the door falling shut behind him is terrifyingly loud and he tries to be as quiet as he can when he takes off his shoes and coat. He holds the gift nervously in both hands as he slowly makes his way through the hallway to the living room, where Ashton is just setting the last of the plates on the table. He smiles when he sees Luke, a bright, sunny grin that lights up the room more than all the Christmas lights combined. Luke feels so guilty.

“Hey,” Ashton greets him. “How was Loren?”

“They’re good,” he answers, licking his lips. Ashton’s eyes fall onto the present and understanding dawns in his eyes, though Luke knows he really doesn’t understand at all. He pointedly ignores Ashton’s questioning gaze and goes to put the present under the tree, sitting down at the table after. “It smells really good,” he squeaks. Ashton narrows his eyes at him.

“You’re acting weird,” he concludes. Before Luke can stop him, he’s making his way over to the overly decorated tree to grab the gift-wrapped package Luke just carefully put there.

“No, Ash, don’t-” he starts, but Ashton sticks his tongue out at him and tears the wrapping paper off. It falls to the carpet almost soundlessly but to Luke, it sounds like a bomb just went off. Ashton goes still when he sees what he has in his hands and he stares at the contents of his gift for a good minute before he glances over to Luke, confusion evident in his eyes.

“Scented candles?” he asks. Luke swallows. He knows it’s ridiculous but he can actually feel tears burning in his eyes now. He sags in his chair, defeated, and hides his face in his hands.

“I’m so sorry,” he mumbles, words muffled by his hands.

“What do you mean?” Ashton asks him. He sounds completely lost and Luke doesn’t blame him. He’s acting like a fucking tool and he knows it. Loren was right. He’s such an idiot.

“I went out to the stores with Loren today to get you a present,” he admits. He sighs as he glances up at Ashton, who is looking at him like a lost, kicked puppy.

“You spent hours at the mall with Loren and you got me scented candles?”

Luke avoids his eyes, staring at the fake snow covering the window sills instead. “I, um. This morning I realized that- that I forgot to get you the most important present?” he says. It comes out more as a question and Ashton just stares at him. Luke can’t read his face. His scares him. He starts rambling. “I mean, I’ve been so busy and it just- it slipped my mind, I guess? And I couldn’t believe I forgot and I felt so guilty about it and I just _had_ to get you something but then most stores were closed and the ones that were open didn’t have any good things and I just- you’re always so happy when Christmas is close and you love it so much and you were so excited and I went and _forgot_ and I just felt so, so guilty and I didn’t want to let you down and –”

Ashton cuts him off. Not by yelling, like Luke had expected. Not by crying either, thank fuck, nor by throwing the pack of candles right back at him. No, he cuts Luke off by _laughing_. And just. Luke is so _confused_.

“Why are you laughing?” he asks. His voice is weak and his hair is drooping in his face and he feels a little like the Grinch that ruined Christmas but Ashton is there, standing in the middle of their living room, laughing his butt off. Luke has never been this confused before in his life.

Ashton keeps giggling while he gasps out an answer. “You are the most ridiculous person in the world,” he gasps, doubling over with the force of his laughter. Luke pouts.

“Yeah, Loren told me that, too,” he mutters. “Why am I ridiculous?”

“Loren texted me,” Ashton grins. “Said you were having a total freak-out because you forgot a Christmas present and you thought I was going to break up with you.”

Luke’s mouth drops open. “Fucking Loren,” he groans. “I didn’t want them to tell you! I just wanted to get you the perfect gift.”

Now it’s Ashton’s turn to look sad. “You really thought I’d break up with you over Christmas?” Despite him being so freaking tall, he looks very small in the oversized Christmas sweater, especially with that look on his face. Luke sighs and moves forward to wrap his boyfriend up in a hug.

“Rationally, no, I didn’t,” he answers. “But you were so damn happy this morning and I just- I didn’t want to ruin your favourite holiday.”

Ashton is smiling when he pulls back from the hug. “You could never ruin my Christmas. Not as long as you’re here with me to celebrate.”

Luke grins, a stupidly happy smile that’s so wide his face feels like it’s going to rip. “I love you,” he murmurs against Ashton’s lips.

“I can’t believe you bought me scented candles,” Ashton says. Luke huffs out a laugh and shoves at Ashton’s chest.

“Shut up. Let me live. I just wanted to get you the best gift ever.”

“You already gave me the best gift ever,” Ashton smiles. “Because, Luke, all I want for Christmas, is _you_.”

He looks up and as Luke follows his gaze, he realizes that they’re standing right under one of the strategically-placed mistletoes in the house. He grins dopily.

“You’re an idiot,” he whispers, pulling Ashton is for a soft, passionate kiss. He can feel Ashton’s bright, happy smile against his lips, the warmth of his skin where his hands slip under the fabric of his sweater, and all the anxiety rushes out of him in a single wave, leaving a feeling of warm contentment in his belly.

“Merry Christmas, babe.”

**Author's Note:**

> Find me on [tumblr](http://tinymichael.tumblr.com/).


End file.
